| NVA in Asia/ S. Asia - 2009 April 7 |
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| Sunday, 12 April 2009 |
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China 'reopens' Tibet to tourists
By: Al Jazeera, April 6, 2009 China has reopened the Himalayan region of Tibet to foreign tourists, nearly a month after imposing a travel ban coinciding with the anniversary of a failed uprising. A group of 11 German tourists arrived in Lhasa, the regional capital of Tibet, on Saturday for a six-day tour of the region, China's state-run Xinhua news agency said. Read full article... India: The wages of protest By: Arundhati Dhuru and Sandeep Pandey,The Hindu, April 5, 2009 While the RTI Act and the audit provisions of NREGA enable ordinary people to demand accountability from governments, it doesn't always work like that on the ground. There have been several cases recently in U.P., where the demand for rights by workers has been met with violence. Read full article... Violence silences voices of Sri Lankan journalists By: Seth Mydans, NY Times, April 4, 2009 A blue plastic bag sits crumpled on the floor, easy to overlook, in the office of Lal Wickramatunga, the managing editor of The Sunday Leader. Inside the bag are the clothes and shoes of a dead man - the things his brother Lasantha, 52, was wearing on Jan. 8 when eight masked thugs on motorcycles smashed the window of his car and shot him to death. Read full article... China moves to quell anger after protest march By: AFP, April 4, 2009 Authorities in northern China moved Saturday to contain a dispute over factory job losses that sparked an unprecedented attempt by workers to mount a mass protest march on Beijing, state media said. More than 1,000 workers were prevented Friday from marching 140 kilometres (90 miles) to Beijing from the city of Baoding to protest the closure of their textile factory. Read full article... China: Prisoner dies after 'having nightmare' By: China Digital Times, April 3, 2009 Two months ago, news that prisoner Li Qiaoming died during the Chinese game "eluding the cat" sparked widespread furor across the Internet. This week, many Chinese are expressing anger and confusion at news that a prisoner in Jiangxi died after "having a nightmare." Read full article... China in new crackdown on internet video and audio By: Kathrin Hille, FT, April 3, 2009 The Chinese government has ordered a new crackdown on online video and audio content which could result in a tightening of internet censorship and limit the broadcasting of western films and entertainment programmes on the web. In a notice published on its website earlier this week, the State Administration for Radio, Film and Television published a long list of video and audio content which it declared illegal. Read full article... China, Iran censor web By: Iranian.ws, April 3, 2009 China's "sophisticated and multi-layered" efforts to censor and control the Internet earned it a "not free" rating by a US rights group in a report released Wednesday. Freedom House, which examined web freedom issues in 15 countries, listed Cuba, Iran and Tunisia as three other nations it considered "not free" due to government control of online activity. Read full article...  Chinese activist seeks earthquake truth By: Bill Schiller, The Star, April 3, 2009 At 51, Ai Wei Wei is as close as one gets to a living legend in China - a builder, blogger and performance artist known for his fiercely independent mind. He's also no stranger to controversy. He was a key concept designer for the Bird's Nest stadium, for example. But when the opening ceremonies approached for last summer's Olympics, he thumbed his nose at them. Read full article... China: Guangdong mandates security cameras By: RFA, April 3, 2009 Authorities in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong are stepping up plans to install security cameras in schools, factories, and other public places amid fears of growing social unrest. According to a new directive from provincial police, security cameras are now compulsory in public areas in all schools, colleges, hospitals, hotels, and parks, as well as Internet cafes and bars. Read full article... Detained Burmese protest wanting to go home By: Myint Maung, Mizzima News, April 3, 2009 Wanting to return home, over 180 Burmese migrant workers held in 'Samonyin' detention camp by the Malaysian Immigration Department have been staging protests since yesterday evening. The protests have to do with their being held at the Immigration detention centre and not releasing those arrested before last December on the Thai border. Read full article... Thailand: Internet user gets ten years in jail for posting content that "defamed" monarchy By: RSF, April 3, 2009 Reporters Without Borders condemns the 10-year jail sentence which a criminal court in the northeast Bangkok district of Ratchada imposed today on Suwicha Thakor for posting content online that was deemed to have insulted the monarchy. Thakor has been held in Bangkok's Klong Prem prison since 14 January. "The charge of lese majeste has become a major tool of repression in Thailand," Reporters Without Borders said. Read full article... Tibetans keep up protests, boycott in Chinese region By: Asia-Pacific News, April 3, 2009 Tibetans are coninuing small protests and a farming boycott in a closed area of south-western China known for its unrest and ethinic division, according to reports seen on Friday. Police detained four Buddhist nuns and two other Tibetans in Sichuan province's Kardze (Ganzi) prefecture on Wednesday after they shouted slogans supporting the exiled Dalai Lama and calling for greater freedom, the pro-Tibetan independence website phayul.com reported. Read full article... Vietnam: New opposition to mine By: RFA, April 2, 2009 A leading dissident Buddhist monk in Vietnam, Thich Quang Do, has joined scientists and a leading war hero in opposing plans to mine bauxite in Vietnam, citing concerns for the environment and indigenous people, his organization has said. Do, the head of the banned Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) and under de facto house arrest in Ho Chi Minh City, urged workers to stay away from factories to protest the plan to allow Chinese companies to mine bauxite in Vietnam's Central Highlands. Read full article... Brutal law strips Afghan women of rights - Where's the outrage? By: Marie Cocco, AlterNet, April 2, 2009 Afghanistan's women are no longer in vogue. It was only a few years ago that Laura Bush, who normally shied from causes that could be considered controversial, took up their banner. "The brutal oppression of women is a central goal of the terrorists," the first lady said in a radio address shortly after President Bush launched the U.S-led invasion to overthrow the Taliban following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Read full article... China: Uyghurs targeted over desert prayers By: RFA, April 2, 2009 Local authorities in China's northwestern Xinjiang region are detaining and fining members of the mostly Muslim Uyghur minority for conducting prayers outside their home villages, residents and officials say. Several hundred Uyghurs who gathered to pray at a Qariqash county shrine in Khotan prefecture, south of Kashgar, were surrounded by local police and detained for hours on March 26, one of the detained villagers said. Read full article... China: Beijing must reveal fate of human rights lawyer By: South China Morning Post, March 19, 2009 It is , China's most famous human rights lawyer, who boldly sought to use the law to battle corruption, overturn illegal property seizures, expose police abuses and defend religious freedom. Read full article... Share this article: 
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